Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1887-08-26
TALMAGE'S SERMON,
The Weekly Discourse Of tha Great
Brooklyn Preacher
Subject: "COncerRing the Big
Ots.''

TEvr; "7hsn said they unto him, sdy
ilOW Shtbboteth; and he said Sibboleth. for
ne could not frame to pronounce IL right
Then they took him and slol0 hint at the Dds.
Sttges Gf Jordan. Judges xii, 6.
| Do you notice the difference Of pronuncia-
ton between shbboleth and sibboleth? A
very small and unimportant difference, you
say. And yet that difference was the differ
ence between life and death for a great many
people, The Lords people, Gileao and
! Ephraim got into great fight, and Ephraim
was worsted, and on the retreat came
to the fords of the river Jordan to
cross Order. wasgiven that all Enphaims
! ties coming there should be slain. But how
could it be found out who were
Ephraimitesi They were detected by their
pronunciation. Shibboleth was a word that
stood for river The Ephraimites had a
brogue Of their own, and when they tried to
say shibboleth always left out the sound Of
the III" When it was asked that they say
shibboleth they said sibboleth and were slain.
Then said they unto him, Say now Shibbo-
leth and he said Sbboleth, for he could not
frame to pronounce it right Then they took
! him and slew him at the passage OF Jordan y
A very small difference, you say, between
Gilead and Ephraim, and yet how much in
tolerance about that small difference. The
the different denominations of Christians
sometimes magnify very small difference
and the only difference between scores of de-
nominations to-day is the difference between
shibboleth and sbboleth.
The church OF God is divided into great
number of denominations. Time would fail
| ne to tell of the Calvinists and the Armin-
ians, and the Sabbatarians and the Baxter
inns, and the Dunkers, and the Shakers, and
the QuakerS, and the Metho1ists, and the
Baptists, and the Episcopaians. and the
Lutherans, ard the Congregationalists, and
the Presbyterians, and the Spiritualists, and
score of other denominations of religonists,
some of them founded by very good men,
some of them founded by very egotistic men,
and some of them founded by very bad men.
But as demand for myself liberty of con-
science, must give that same liberty to
every other man, remembering that he no
more differs from me than differ from him.
! advocate the largest liberty in all religious
belief and form of worship. In art, in
politics. in morals, and in religion let there
be no gag law, no moving of the previous
question, no persecution, no intolerance
You know that the air and the water keep
pure by constant circulation, and I think
there is tendency in religious discussion to
purfication and moral health. Between the
Fourth and the Sixteenth centuries the church
proposed to make people think Alright by pro-
hibiting discussion and by strong censorship
of the press, and by rack, and gibbet, and
hot lead down the throat, tried to make peo-
pie orthodox; but it was discovered that you
cannot change mans belief by twisting
off his head, and that you cannot make man
see things differently by putting an awl
through his eyes. There is something in a
mans conscience which will hurl off the
mountain that you throw uron it, and, un-
| singed of the fire, out of the flame will make
glory.
In that time ofwhich speak, between the
Fourth and Sixteenth centuries, people went
from the house of God into the most appal-
ling iniquity, and right along by consecrated
altars there were tides of drunkenness and
icentioumess such as the world never heard
of, and the very sewers of perdition broke
loose and flooded the church. After while
the printing press was freed, and it broke the
shackles OF the human mind. Then there
| came large number of bad books, but where
there was one man hostile to the Christian
| religion there were twenty men ready to adj
vocate it; 50 have not any nervousness in
regard TO this battle going on between truth
and error.
The truth will conquer Just as certainly as
that God is stronger than the devil. Let
error run if you only let truth run along
with it. Urged on by skeptics shout and
transcendentalist's spur, let it run. Gods
angels of wrath ar3 in hot pursuit, and
quicker than eagles beak catches out a
hawks heart Gods vengeance will tear it to
pieces.
lpropose this morning to speak to you of sec
talianism-its origin, its evils and it's curses.
There are those who would make us think
that this monster, with horns and hoofs,
is religion. | shall chase it 10 its hiding
place, and drag it out of the caverns OF
darkness and RIP off his hide. But l want to
make distinction between bigotry and the
lawful fon1ness for peculiar religious beliefs
fol- nothingarian.
In world of such tremendous vicissitude
and temptation, and with soul that must
after a while stand before a throne of insult
ferable brightness, in day when the rock
ing of the mount ins and the flaming of the
heavens and the upheaval of the sea shall be
among the least OF the excitements, to give
account for every thought, word, action
preference and dislike-that man is mad who
has no religious preference. But our early
education, our physical temperament, oui
mental constitution will very much decide
our form of worship
A style of psalmody that may please me
may displease you. Some would like to havt
a minister in gown, and bands, and surplice
and Others prefer to have minister in plaiI
citizens apparel. Some are most Impressed
when little child represented at the alta
and sprinkled with the waters of holy bene
diction sin the name of the Father and o
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;n and other
are more impressed when the penitent come
up out of the river, his garments dripping
with the waters of baptism which signiie
the washing away of sin. Let either hav
his own way. One man likes no noise il
prayer, not word, not whisper. Anothe
man just as good prefers by gesticulation ant
exclamation to express his devotional aspira
tions One is just as good as the other
EVERY man fully persuaded in his owl
mind."
George Whitefeld was going over Quake
rather roughly for some of his religious sent
ments, and the Quaker said: George, an
as thou art: | am for bringing all men to til
hope Of the Gospel; therefore, If thou wilt nc
quarrel with me about my broad brim, / wi
notquarrel with thee about thy black gown
George, give me thy hand"
/. In tracing out the religion of sectariar
ism, or bigotry | find that great deal of !
comes from wrong education in the hon
circle. There are parents who do not thin
it wrong to caricature and ieer the peculia
forms of religion in the world and denounC
other sects and other denominations. 1t
very often the case that that kind of educt
tion acts justs opposite to what was expected
and the children grow up and, after wh
go and see for themselves: and looking
piiOno Shui ShSo, anu iliiulliB buo ptOp
are good there, and they love God and kee
his commandments, by natural reaction the
go and join those very churches. / coul
, mention the names of prominent ministers
the gospel who spent Their whole lives bon
harding other denominations, and who live
. ~ see their children preach the GOSPEL
those very denominations. But it is often IL
case that bigotry starts in household an
that the subject of it never recovers. Thel
are tens of thousands of bigots 10 wears oil
think sectariansm and bigotry also ris
from too great prominence of any one d.
nomination In community, All the othC
denominations are wrong and his denominI
tion is right because his denomination is IL
most wealthy, or the most popular, or I'll
) most influential, and it is ''our" church. al
'our" religious organization, and 'our' choi